What's the best SEG tariff?

Which export tariffs can you get?

Our rating is based on the rate alone: five stars for 12p or more, down to one star for under 4p.

Which can anyone get?

You keep your current electricity supplier.

Which need you to buy your electricity from them?

None pay more than Fuse. Worth it for a fixed rate, or if their electricity price is cheaper.

Which need the supplier to have fitted your system?

The highest flat rates, for systems the supplier sold you.

Which pay more at certain times of day?

These pay most from 4pm to 7pm. Octopus customers only.

Click a supplier to see its own page. We couldn't confirm a rate for So Energy's So Export Flex, E (Gas and Electricity), Ruby Energy, Foxglove Energy, Outfox the Market's Outfox Export, so they aren't listed.

How do you choose an export tariff?

1. Start with Fuse. Its 13p is as good as any flat rate, and you don't have to switch supplier. Only switch if you want a fixed rate, have a battery, or the new supplier's electricity price is cheaper too.
2. Got a battery? Store your solar and export it from 4pm to 7pm, when Octopus pays the most.
3. Fixed or variable? A fixed rate stays the same for 12 months. A variable one can change any time.
4. Any exit fee? Most have none. Octopus's 4.1p tariff charges £100 if you leave in the first 12 months.
5. How are you paid? Some take it off your electricity bill each month. Others pay into your bank every 3 or 6 months, or once a year.

How much could you earn?

For every 1,000 units you export, you'd earn:

• £130 a year at 13p
• £60 a year at 6p
• £20 a year at 2p

Using your solar at home will save you more. Electricity costs 26.32p a unit on average to buy (the price cap, October to December 2026). More in are solar panels worth it?

What do people actually get paid?

Ofgem says suppliers paid £56.97 million for exports from April 2024 to March 2025. That was across 270,395 installations on a SEG tariff, so about £211 each on average for the year. Many of those were on lower rates than the best ones today.

Which export tariff is best with a battery?

A battery stores your solar during the day. You can then use it in the evening, or export it when rates are highest.

• Octopus Flux pays 28.90p from 4pm to 7pm in the East Midlands. You need solar panels and a battery, and to buy your electricity from Octopus.
• Good Energy Solar Savings Exclusive pays 25p all day. But Good Energy has to have fitted your panels and battery.
• Prime Outgoing Octopus pays 16p from 4pm to 7pm without a battery, but a battery helps you export more in those hours.

Check the battery rules before you sign. If your battery also charges from the grid, Ofgem says a supplier doesn't have to pay SEG on what it exports. Pozitive Energy doesn't pay for power stored in a battery at all. Thinking about a battery? Read are solar batteries worth it?

What's changed this month?

• EDF cut its SEG rate for anyone from 3p to 2p (28 October).
• Octopus now charges £100 if you leave its 4.1p tariff within 12 months (23 October).
• Intelligent Octopus Flux is closed to new customers for now.

Some comparison sites still show EDF at 3p and Ecotricity at 16p. Their own websites say 2p and 12p.

Which suppliers have to offer an export tariff?

Suppliers with at least 150,000 home electricity customers must offer a Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) tariff. The rate is up to them, but it must always be above zero.

From April 2026 to March 2027, these suppliers must offer one: British Gas, E (Gas and Electricity), E.ON Next, EDF, Foxglove, Fuse, Octopus, OVO, ScottishPower, So Energy, Utilita and Utility Warehouse.

Smaller suppliers can choose to offer SEG tariffs too. Pozitive Energy, Ruby, Smart Pay Energy and VoltX do. Ecotricity, Good Energy and 100Green each offer a solar export tariff, but not through the SEG.

What do you need to get paid for exports?

• An MCS certificate. Home solar systems up to 50 kW need one. Your installer gives it to you. Read what is an MCS certificate?
• A smart meter. Your meter has to record what you export every half hour.
• An export MPAN. This number identifies where your solar goes onto the grid. Your export supplier usually asks your network operator for it. It takes about one to four weeks.

Every home system we fit comes with an MCS certificate. More detail in our Smart Export Guarantee guide.

How do you switch export tariff?

1. Check your current tariff. Look for an exit fee or a fixed end date.
2. Apply to the new supplier. Have your MCS certificate and meter details ready.
3. Wait for your first payment. MoneySavingExpert says it can take 5 to 12 weeks from signing up.

You can only be on one SEG tariff at a time.

Do you pay tax on export payments?

Usually not. Money from selling electricity made by a home system up to 50 kW is free of income tax. The system must be at or near your home, and not built to make much more than your home uses.

Can you get the SEG and the Feed-in Tariff?

Not export payments from both for the same system. The Feed-in Tariff closed to new homes in April 2019. If you're on it, you can keep its generation payments, give up its export payments and take a SEG tariff instead.

How do we check these rates?

We take every rate from the supplier's own website, never from other comparison sites. We leave out business tariffs and anything we can't confirm. New to export payments? Read our Smart Export Guarantee guide.